The fourth-place finisher didnt just sit around wondering why she wasn’t appearing in early episodes.
She rang up the show to get some answers.
How did Heather feel about her exit and just missing out on the final three?
Heather Aldret on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
What was her reaction to Deshawn’s truth bomb?
And is she upset that so little of her journey along the way made it to the screen?
I felt like I was in a little wind tunnel, and it was pushing the flames back.
Heather Aldret on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
It was actually blowing in at me!
I had to keep backing up because it was gonna burn my face.
The wind was blowing it towards my face.
Heather Aldret on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
I had the stronger one, but it just wouldn’t go up.
How much have you been thinking about that over the past seven months?
I didn’t want that to happen.
I didn’t do it, my mistake.
And I lost."
But I was glad I was able to get the fire started.
And I was able to get it in like six seconds.
We would count it.
They had string, and there was no string out there in the jungle.
We had the coconut-husk-looking stuff.
That’s what sparks the easiest in the jungle for the next contestants out there.
I didn’t even realize it was happening until watching it back this season.
I had no idea that even happened.
I was just taking it in.
And what you don’t know is Deshawn was my friend out there.
And so to lose this challenge to someone I considered my friend too?
I hated leaving, but I loved leaving it to someone I cared about.
He told me every bit of it, word for word.
And listen, I’ve watched this game for 20 years.
I know there comes a time when you have to break and go your separate ways.
[Erika and I] weren’t there yet.
We’ve talked about it.
We had our pieces still in a row to get to the end.
We were on a mission.
And so when he told me, I listened.
I was like, “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
But when he pulled that out at Tribal, I didn’t know how to react.
I was crushed because I already knew it.
So I didn’t wanna stand and be like, “I already know all this.
It’s okay.”
But I hated that he was doing it because it was hurting Erika, and dumb.
It was hard because I didn’t understand it.
He was trying to shake us up a little bit.
And it didn’t work.
When I was shown on screen being upset.
I wasn’t upset with Erika.
I was upset with that whole situation that was starting my breaking point that night.
I knew where I hung my bottle every night.
I knew where I put my clothes.
There’s comfort in that.
And when that was taken away, it just intensified everything.
Look, it’s no secret that you didn’t exactly get a heavy edit this season.
Was it tough during the season not seeing more of your journey on the screen?
How did you feel about that?
How would you feel?
I can handle it.
I’m a big girl.
We’ve always been very truthful with each other.
Did I do something wrong?
Am I being punished?"
Because I’m sure you saw everything online, from “Did she steal Jeff’s khaki pants?”
to “Did she kidnap a member of production’s kid?”
I mean, it just went on.
It was a funny meme, but it hurt.
And he said, “No, you did nothing wrong.
They loved you.”
He told me that the first part of the season, everything was around an advantage.
It was around something of that capacity.
So everybody had a part in that but me, and that’s where the focus was.
But yeah, I did call and ask because I wanted to know if I did something wrong.
Then I could say to my kids, “Hey, guys, I messed up.
I shouldn’t have done this.
This is why.”
But that wasn’t the case.
So I was glad to hear that, but disappointed some of my journey wasn’t shown.
And I felt horrible.
You have to own it.
I owned it, I sucked at it, I lost it, and it was horrible.
I never said I was proud of it.
And I also didn’t remember anybody clapping either.
So to see the clapping part, I was like, “Wow.”
But it did hurt doing it.
I was not proud of myself.
Erika and I would sit down and say, “Okay, let’s figure this out.”
And we would draw the holes in the sand.
And then that way we can cover it if this person plays the idol."
We did that through every vote, and were on the right side of every vote.
And it was quite chaotic with her and her group.
She was just a lot of fun.
I was gonna have a go at save her.
But I couldn’t say that.
I said, “Just sit still.”
And so I was trying to flip it on Naseer because Naseer was a threat at the time.
I was like, “Now’s the time to do it.
If everybody’s quiet, maybe I can save her at the same time.”
Why you trying to flip this?
You’re trying to mess this up!"
I was like, “Well, I’m not sure what’s happening.
I’m trying to figure it out!”
That’s why that happened.
So it wasn’t me trying to create chaos.
I didn’t consider Deshawn as much.
It was measurable on chaos and not getting what he wanted with the chaos.
I wasn’t there the first part of his chapter, and that’s something he never talked about.
And he was like, “I guess it just didn’t come up.”
I felt strongly about voting for Erika because I was on that journey with her the entire time.
I saw it all.
She handled a lot of things with grace and dignity and is just this powerhouse of a little person.
That was something I applauded her for.
I think she deserved the win.
I wanted to play the game and I got to play the game.
I knew I was never gonna outrun Xander or Danny.
And so my point was, going into every challenge I wanted to enjoy it and not be scared.
And that’s what I did.
So I lived my dream.
I’m proud of making it as far as I did.
And I even said at the end, “Let me just go finish.
I don’t care.
I don’t wanna win at this point.
Just let me go.
There’s only a few hours left.
I got this far.”
I would’ve done it just to finish it with them.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
